November 26 – December 3, 2019 North American blizzard

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November 26 – December 3, 2019 North American blizzard
Category 2 "Significant" (RSI/NOAA: 3.608)
Two Large Winter Storms to Wallop Parts of the U.S.jpg
The bomb cyclone over the rockies as another system impacts the Eastern U.S.
TypeExtratropical cyclone
Pacific Northwest windstorm
Bomb cyclone
Winter storm
Blizzard
FormedNovember 26, 2019
DissipatedDecember 3, 2019
(Exited to sea)
Highest gust106 mph (171 km/h) at Cape Blanco, Oregon
Lowest pressure973.4 mb (28.74 inHg)
Tornadoes
confirmed
4
Max. rating1EF1 tornado
Duration of
tornado outbreak2
58 minutes
Fatalities8
Power outages> 80,000
Areas affectedPacific Northwest, Southwestern United States, Midwestern United States, Northeastern United States

1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale
2Time from first tornado to last tornado

The November 26 – December 3, 2019 North American blizzard was a major winter storm from the Rocky Mountains to the Northeast as well as a record breaking windstorm along the West Coast (particularly California and Oregon). It occurred the week of American Thanksgiving, hampering travel for millions across the United States.

Moving ashore on the night of November 26 near the Oregon/California border, the storm produced a record low pressure reading of 973.4 millibars (28.74 inHg) in Crescent City, California. From November 27–30, the low merged with the subtropical jet as it tracked slowly eastward across the Rockies, Plains and Midwest. The combination of cold air, moisture and high winds produced a wide swath of blizzard conditions from Colorado through western South Dakota, including the Denver area. In Rapid City, 14.5 inches (370 mm) of snow fell on the 30th, breaking the one-day snowfall record for November. In Duluth, it was the city's heaviest snowstorm in ten years. As the first major winter storm of the season in the northeast, it dumped 22.6 inches (570 mm) of snow in Albany, where it was the heaviest snowfall since the 1993 Superstorm. Widespread totals in excess of 20 inches (510 mm) occurred in the Albany Metro, Southern New Hampshire and Northwestern Massachusetts with a regional peak of 36 inches (910 mm) of snow in New Ipswich, New Hampshire. The storm finally moved out to sea December 3.

Meteorological history[]

Entering the United States late on November 26 as a powerful bomb cyclone and Pacific Northwest windstorm, the cyclone made landfall in Crescent City, California, with a minimum pressure of 973.4 millibars (28.74 inHg), unofficially breaking state records. It was unofficially given the name Winter Storm Ezekiel by The Weather Channel.[1] Over the following three days it merged with the subtropical jet stream as it trekked slowly eastward over the Rockies, High Plains and Midwest. On December 1–2, the storm entered the Northeast as the first major winter storm of the season, before moving out to sea by December 3.

Impacts[]

Southwest[]

While southern Oregon and Northern California received wind gusts exceeding 100 mph (160 km/h), Southern California and Arizona experienced widespread heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding. Although much of the L.A. Basin only received between ½ and ¾ of an inch of rain, local totals amounted to 2.17 inches of rain in Long Beach. Following the recent drought and wildfires, the ground had reduced ability to absorb rain water and so the NWS warned of the possibility of flash floods and debris flows. Flash floods with up to two feet of standing water occurred in San Diego. Hail fell in Grotela in association with a heavier burst of rain (likely a thunderstorm) that moved through the area. Freezing levels fell below 3,000 feet (910 m), meaning that high elevation suburbs of Los Angeles like Palmdale and Victorville received accumulating snow. The snow was disruptive to Thanksgiving travelers, as it weighed down and snapped tree limbs and closed Interstate 5 at Parker Road and the Grapevine. Over a foot of snow fell in the mountains of northern Arizona and several tornado warnings for issued for the central portion of the state, and 4 tornadoes touched down at night, causing $245,000 in damage in the suburbs of Phoenix. A flooded Tonto Creek swept away a vehicle containing three children.[2]

Confirmed tornadoes[]

List of confirmed tornadoes – Friday, November 29, 2019[note 1]
EF# Location County / parish State Start coord. Time (UTC) Path length Max width Summary Refs
EF0 Glendale to WNW of Scottsdale Maricopa AZ 33°34′N 112°07′W / 33.56°N 112.12°W / 33.56; -112.12 (Phoenix (November 29, EF0)) 10:49–10:59 10.09 mi (16.24 km) 100 yd (91 m) Several trees were downed. One carport was destroyed while a second was blown onto cars. [3]
EF1 Eastern Glendale to Northern Scottsdale Maricopa AZ 33°34′N 112°04′W / 33.56°N 112.06°W / 33.56; -112.06 (Glendale (November 29, EF1)) 10:54–11:06 8.85 mi (14.24 km) 200 yd (180 m) Large trees were downed, some of which fell on carports and vehicles. Homes sustained roof damage, and a few had their roofs blown off. [4]
EF0 Higley Maricopa AZ 33°17′N 111°45′W / 33.29°N 111.75°W / 33.29; -111.75 (Higley(November 29, EF0)) 11:41–11:46 4.5 mi (7.2 km) 100 yd (91 m) Small trees were damaged in two parking lots. [5]
EF0 Queen Creek Maricopa AZ 33°14′N 111°38′W / 33.23°N 111.63°W / 33.23; -111.63 (Queen Creek(November 29, EF0)) 11:51–11:57 3.56 mi (5.73 km) 100 yd (91 m) Power poles and trees were knocked down, and roofs were damaged in town. [6]

Rocky Mountains and High Plains[]

Denver saw an unusually snowy November partially thanks to this storm alone. It dumped nearly twice the average monthly snowfall total (7.5 inches) on the city. Some parts of the foothills accumulated in excess of 40 inches (100 cm) of snow.[7] In the central and northern Plains freezing drizzle fell on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, transitioning to snow, and then heavy snow, overnight. On the following day, November 30, winds increased, gusting from 45 to 60 mph at times, creating blizzard conditions. In Rapid City, South Dakota, 14.5 and 15.9 inches of snow fell, breaking the one-day and two-day November snowfall records respectively. In the northern Black Hills, a local mountain range, over two feet of snow fell. One person was killed in a rollover crash near Cavour. The individual, as well as their passenger, were not wearing seat-belts. A crash on I-15 near Willard, Utah, also killed one person.[8]

Midwest[]

In Duluth, Minnesota, 21.7 inches (55 cm) of snow fell at the airport, where wind gusts frequently exceeded 35 mph, meeting blizzard criteria.[9] The snowfall accumulation was the ninth-heaviest on record and the most in ten years. Near Patton, Missouri, two boys, ages 5 and 8, and the vehicle they were riding in, were swept away. In this incident, a 33 year old man and a 2 year old infant suffered injuries but survived.[10] A 48-year-old man died in a separate incident near Sedgewickville, Missouri.[11]

Northeast and Mid-Atlantic[]

In Albany, 22.6 inches of snow fell, making the storm the eighth and fourth-worst overall and for December, respectively, and the most intense since the 1993 Superstorm.[12] Seven New York counties placed on a 'State of emergency' and Boston public schools closed in the storm's aftermath, although school boards closed in a dozen counties from North Carolina to Maine. In the NYC metro/tri-state area, 80,000 lost power and 370 flights were cancelled. Pennsylvania transportation officials reduced the speed limit to 45 mph on Interstates 80, 81, 84, 476 and 380. Several other states also put either travel restrictions or speed-limit reductions into effect. Snowfall closed portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Highway 441 in North Carolina and Virginia.[13]

Snowfall totals[]

From the storm's landfall in California to its exit from the Northeast, it produced snowfall in at least 30 states:[14]

  • Arizona: 30 inches at Arizona Snowbowl
  • California: 49 inches near Cedar Grove
  • Colorado: 15 inches at Wolf Creek Pass
  • Connecticut: 18 inches at North Granby
  • Idaho: 20 inches estimated at Sun Valley Resort
  • Maine: 15.5 inches at Kittery
  • Massachusetts: 28 inches in Peru
  • Michigan: 28 inches at Gould City
  • Minnesota: 25.1 inches near Carlton
  • Montana: 14 inches in Choteau
  • Nebraska: 14 inches in Chadron
  • Nevada: 18 inches at Mt. Rose Summit
  • New Hampshire: 36 inches near New Ipswich
  • New Jersey: 14.3 inches in Highland Lakes
  • New Mexico: 16.6 inches near Black Lake
  • New York: 28 inches in Fultonville
  • North Carolina: 6 inches near Santeetlah
  • North Dakota: 16 inches in Fredonia
  • Oregon: 15 inches estimated near Rock Creek
  • Pennsylvania: 14 inches in Susquehanna
  • Rhode Island: 11.8 inches in Chepachet
  • South Dakota: 30 inches in Lead
  • Tennessee: 4.5 inches in Mount LeConte
  • Utah: 48 inches at Snowbasin Resort
  • Vermont: 26 inches in Woodford
  • Virginia: 4 inches near Jewell Ridge
  • Washington: 23 inches near Wenatchee
  • West Virginia: 7 inches near Parcoal
  • Wisconsin: 31 inches near Washburn
  • Wyoming: 30 inches in Muddy Gap

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.

References[]

  1. ^ "Cross-Country Winter Storm Brought Snow, Ice and Wind Thanksgiving Week Into Early December (RECAP)". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  2. ^ "Thanksgiving storm blankets Southern California mountains, turns deadly in Arizona".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Arizona Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Phoenix, Arizona. 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. ^ Arizona Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Phoenix, Arizona. 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Arizona Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Phoenix, Arizona. 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Arizona Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Phoenix, Arizona. 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Ten Biggest Colorado Weather Stories in 2019".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "November 29–30 Blizzard and Winter Storm".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "NWS Duluth twitter".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Report, KETV Staff (2019-12-03), 2 boys killed when vehicle swept away by flooding on trip to grandma's house, retrieved 2021-10-22
  11. ^ "NWS Duluth twitter".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  13. ^ "Winter Storm Leaves Tens of Thousands without Power in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania; Boston Schools Closed". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  14. ^ "Cross-Country Winter Storm Brought Snow, Ice and Wind Thanksgiving Week Into Early December (RECAP)". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
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